Did Microsoft Threaten with Lawsuits?

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2007-06-14 07:50:35 UTC
Modified: 2007-06-14 07:50:35 UTC

As we mentioned a couple of times in the past, not only does Microsoft collect royalties from Linux sales, but it also secretly extracts money from companies that use Free software.

I have just been told by a reliable source that one thing which had escaped the media is the fact that Microsoft quietly threatens with lawsuits. Could this explain the spineless (and self contradictory) acts of Linspire and Xandros? I am still looking for a reliable concrete reference that I can cite, but to anonymous quote the message which I received:

The one thing that is blindingly obvious to me about the Microsoft threats of patent lawsuits has gone all but unnoticed in the main stream media.

If is it true that Microsoft holds patents on the Linux OS that it can use to force compliance from Linux distros, then wouldn't that mean that Microsoft is truly a monopoly where operating systems are concerned?

If it is truly a monopoly, we should again look into breaking up the company like the government wanted to do back in the 90's.

I will update this entry if/when I have more information.

Comments

gpl1

2007-06-14 07:59:57

If so, then Google's antitrust complaint is very, very timely and could motivate the state AGs to actually do something (since the DoJ is a hopeless cause with this administration). United States v. Microsoft concerned itself with around 12 different monopolistic tactics IIRC, not just Netscape.
Roy Schestowitz

2007-06-14 08:46:04

I am waiting for a response and I am hoping to provide further and concrete evidence that I can then put on Groklaw's News Picks. I am aware of some stories of this kind, but I wish to see if coming from the horse's mouth. Notice, for example, how Jeremy Allison's words turned out to be truthful only months later, thanks a Microsoft executive that wanted to amplify FUD level (perhaps it was a slip of the tongue). Why does the media miss that? Suspiciously selective...
shane

2007-06-14 13:41:39

Something caused a serious change of heart at Linspire, that's for sure: Matthew Aslett has a great piece pointing out Carmony's apparent about-face, and I wonder how chummy things will be with Free/Linspire and Ubuntu/Canonical now.

Recent Techrights' Posts

EPO Education: Workers Resort to Legal Actions (Many Cases) Against the Administration: At the moment the casualties of EPO corruption include the EPO's own staff
Microsofters Try to Defund the Free Software Foundation (by Attacking Its Founder This Week) and They Tell People to Instead Give Money to Microsoft Front Groups: Microsoft people try to outspend their critics and harass them
[Meme] EPO for the Kids' Future (or Lack of It): Patents can last two decades and grow with (or catch up with) the kids
Topics We Lacked Time to Cover: Due to a Microsoft event (an annual malware fest for lobbying and marketing purposes) there was also a lot of Microsoft propaganda
Gemini Links 22/11/2024: ChromeOS, Search Engines, Regular Expressions: Links for the day
This Month is the 11th Month of This Year With Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (So Far It's Happening Every Month This Year, More Announced Hours Ago): Now they even admit it
Links 22/11/2024: Software Patents Squashed, Russia Starts Using ICBMs: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, November 21, 2024: IRC logs for Thursday, November 21, 2024
Gemini Links 21/11/2024: Alphabetising 400 Books and Giving the Internet up: Links for the day
Links 21/11/2024: TikTok Fighting Bans, Bluesky Failing Users: Links for the day
Links 21/11/2024: SpaceX Repeatedly Failing (Taxpayers Fund Failure), Russian Disinformation Spreading: Links for the day
Richard Stallman Earned Two More Honorary Doctorates Last Month: Two more doctorate degrees
KillerStartups.com is an LLM Spam Site That Sometimes Covers 'Linux' (Spams the Term): It only serves to distract from real articles
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, November 20, 2024: IRC logs for Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Gemini Links 20/11/2024: Game Recommendations, Schizo Language: Links for the day
Growing Older and Signs of the Site's Maturity: The EPO material remains our top priority
Did Microsoft 'Buy' Red Hat Without Paying for It? Does It Tell Canonical What to Do Now?: This is what Linus Torvalds once dubbed a "dick-sucking" competition or contest (alluding to Red Hat's promotion of UEFI 'secure boot')
Links 20/11/2024: Politics, Toolkits, and Gemini Journals: Links for the day
Links 20/11/2024: 'The Open Source Definition' and Further Escalations in Ukraine/Russia Battles: Links for the day
[Meme] Many Old Gemini Capsules Go Offline, But So Do Entire Web Sites: Problems cannot be addressed and resolved if merely talking about these problems isn't allowed
Links 20/11/2024: Standing Desks, Broken Cables, and Journalists Attacked Some More: Links for the day
Links 20/11/2024: Debt Issues and Fentanylware (TikTok) Ban: Links for the day
Jérémy Bobbio (Lunar), Magna Carta and Debian Freedoms: RIP: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Jérémy Bobbio (Lunar) & Debian: from Frans Pop to Euthanasia: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
This Article About "AI-Powered" is Itself LLM-Generated Junk: Trying to meet quotas by making fake 'articles' that are - in effect - based on plagiarism?
Recognizing invalid legal judgments: rogue Debianists sought to deceive one of Europe's most neglected regions, Midlands-North-West: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Google-funded group distributed invalid Swiss judgment to deceive Midlands-North-West: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 20/11/2024: BeagleBone Black and Suicide Rates in Switzerland: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, November 19, 2024: IRC logs for Tuesday, November 19, 2024